Okay. I think I'm ready

The thing is, the first phase is still a "mad diet plan". Really, skip it. It's very unhealthy and it's not going to "clean you out" or "get you ready" or anything else. By doing it, you only affirm to yourself that "diets work".

Hi Deb, Yes. That wise lady was you! As I only ate about 1200-1450 calories,though, b/c my body feels completely, totally full with that, dropping 500 calories isn't going to happen. I know. I'm a strange duck when it comes to weight loss. Always have been, always will be, I guess. Ah well, who ever said life comes without challenges?! I'll do the first phase of it and see how it goes. It's only 2 weeks w/out fruit and bread-type foods so it won't be too bad! Take care, Deb, and thanks so much for your wisdom. You're truly a blessing.

Was that me? If so I'm glad you felt the advice was good and worked for you. Did you manage to even out over that month and neither gain nor lose?

If you did, you know what level of intake it requires to maintain your weight. To lose it, you'll need to subtract around 500 cal/day for a pound a week.

South Beach is a fad low-carb diet that is quite popular and in the later stages generally well balanced. Skip the early very low carb phase and just go straight to the regular lifetime way of eating it suggests and that will be fine, provided your total calories are in check.

A few weeks ago Deb from Australia suggested I quit trying to lose weight for a month and get my metabolism back into shape. Thank you, Deb! I sure enjoyed my month of healthy but carefree eating! But, now I'm ready to begin again. I tried the South Beach diet several years ago and was quite successful with it. Even the first two "hard " weeks were reasonably pleasant and had many yummy food choices. Just asking though. What's the general consensus out there and with the SparkPeople staff regarding Southbeach? It seems to be fairly reasonably balanced (except for no fruit or breads/cereals for the first 2 weeks ). Have other people tried this and what have been your experiences? As always, I look forward to the Spark family input! You're great!

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